Rural hospital operator buys Fulton Medical Center

A company specializing in rural health care has purchased the Fulton Medical Center, which was scheduled to close its doors in a week.

EmpowerHMS, which operates rural hospitals, distributed a letter to hospital staff Friday announcing its purchase of the Fulton Medical Center. In the letter, the company states it specializes in rural and critical access hospitals.

Representatives with EmpowerHMS met with Fulton and Callaway County officials Friday afternoon to discuss the company’s purchase of the local acute care hospital, said Fulton Mayor LeRoy Benton.

“We’re very impressed with them,” he said. “It’s a real positive for our community. We look forward to working with them for sure.”

NueHealth, the for-profit company that sold the hospital to EmpowerHMS, announced in July that it was going to close the Fulton Medical Center by Sept. 22. The University of Missouri Health Care, which had 35 percent ownership of the hospital, previously said it was selling its stake, citing low patient volume.

NueHealth and MU Health purchased the Fulton Medical Center, formerly Callaway Community Hospital, in 2014. MU Health paid $1.15 million in cash and provided a loan guarantee for $2.75 million for a 35 percent stake in the $6 million deal.

EmpowerHMS’ letter to staff did not include details of the purchase. The letter does not state where the company is located, but has a Kansas City dateline.

A public meet-and-greet is scheduled with company representatives for 11 a.m. Tuesday. The location has not been determined.

Benton said NueHealth was asking $6 million for the hospital when Fulton and Callaway County officials were considering purchasing it. City and county officials jointly offered $1.2 million for the building through the Fulton Area Development Corporation, but the offer was not accepted, he said.

The Fulton Medical Center had 158 employees when NueHealth announced the hospital's closure. Bruce Hackmann, economic development director for the Callaway Chamber of Commerce, said the company will retain current employees and hopes to gain back employees who left the hospital.

EmpowerHMS owns about 20 hospitals, including the I-70 Community Hospital in Sweet Springs, Hackmann said. The company’s speciality is turning around rural hospitals, he said.

The looming closure had officials and community members worried about losing local emergency medical services. Fulton City Manager Bill Johnson said EmpowerHMS representatives’ presentation Friday included retaining the hospital’s emergency room.

EmpowerHMS said in the letter that it is a member of the National Alliance of Rural Hospitals, and it will “be implementing groundbreaking and innovative programs targeted at creating revenue streams that will take us beyond sustainability.”

Under NueHealth, the Fulton Medical Center’s losses totaled to $1 million from January to May. The hospital's losses in 2015 and 2016 combined were more than $5.5 million.

Hackmann said the Fulton Medical Center cannot operate “business as usual” under the new ownership. He said local officials expressed to EmpowerHMS representatives the company has a marketing and public relations challenge ahead of it and needs to “show the community that the hospital is not only here to stay, but services they’ve come to expect will be enhanced and better than in the past.”

The bottom line for new ownership is discovering what services will make the hospital profitable again to avoid another near-closure situation, Hackmann said.

“It’s a matter of finding those services, expanding those services and then again, doing a better job of marketing those services to the community at large and the medical community that serves our hospital,” he said.

Johnson said he hopes the local community will learn from the situation and use the Fulton Medical Center more frequently.

“I would just hope and encourage the citizens of Fulton and Callaway County to utilize this institution to ensure” the Fulton Medical Center is “successful and profitable … for years and years to come.”